A new report from the Recycling Partnership shows that nearly 400,000 recycling carts have been placed into service around the country during the past three years by the nonprofit group.
The Falls Church, Va.-based organization works with corporate sponsors and local municipalities to drive increased curbside recycling, including plastics, through the placement of roll-out carts.
These carts are easier for citizens to handle, compared with carry-out bins, and can hold much more material. It's this ease of use and added capacity that drives increased participation.
“Day to day, we're always looking forward, actively creating more opportunities for Americans to recycle, building sustainable improvements across our nation's recycling industry,” Partnership CEO Keefe Harrison said in a statement. “Together with our funding partners and our colleagues across the supply chain, we are succeeding. Through partnership, we are doing things that individually we never thought possible.”
Along with granting financial assistance to communities looking to switch to recycling carts, the group also provides technical assistance and community education to help boost recycling rates.
Craig Cookson is senior director of recycling and energy recovery at the American Chemistry Council. “The Partnership's innovative approach delivers more feedstock for manufacturing that is hungry for recycled material,” he said in a statement.
Procter & Gamble Co. is a big user of plastics in its packaging and is a member of group.
“Recycling is a major focus area for P&G and we value our relationship with the Recycling Partnership and support their signature approach of targeted grants and technical assistance to drive positive change for customers and the environment,” said Steve Sikra, technology manager at P&G.
The Recycling Partnership said the group has now assisted more than 250 communities around the country to help improve recycling opportunities for 19 million households.